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Patient Reunites with Life-Saving Scientist NIH Science Permits ‘Command Performance’ By Rich McManus above · NIDDK’s Dr. Sushil Rane and his lab were recently the center of attention as con- y the time Linda Taylor arrived at the Clinical Center in November 1984 with gressional staffers visited NIH. See p. 12. B advanced metastatic , 80 patients with a similar diagnosis had come features to NCI Branch chief Dr. Steven Rosenberg for experimental treatment with 1 an immune system stimulant called inter- Grateful Patient Returns to Scene of Her Cure leukin-2 (IL-2) or for administration of im- mune cells. All of them died of their disease. 3 No one, including Rosenberg, guessed Cornell Researcher To Discuss T Cell Immune Responses that patient No. 81, Taylor, would become what he calls “a historic figure in modern 5 . She’s really part of the history of NIDDK Researchers Team Up for Grand Rounds Presentation the NIH and the Clinical Center.” Taylor is the first cancer patient to be 11 cured by , a treatment pio- NIBIB, India Partner on Blood neered in Rosenberg’s branch that has now NCI’s Dr. Steven Rosenberg reunites with former Pressure Initiative matured into an exciting field that made patient Linda Taylor, whose cancer vanished 29 see taylor, page 6 years ago. She was interviewed for a PBS series. 12 Congressional Reps Meet NIDDK ‘An Incredible Place’ Champion of Global Health Staff, Grantees NIH Alum Pizzo Returns, Applauds Gates Discusses R&D Efforts to Improve Unique Environment Health in Developing Countries By Carla Garnett By Dana Steinberg

departments Before there was a Children’s Inn at NIH. Long Entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates before the current 75+ percent survival rate delivered the annual David E. Barmes Glob- Briefs 2 for pediatric cancers or the new hope for an al Health lecture on Dec. 2. More than 1,000 Milestones 9 AIDS-free generation. Before HIV and AIDS people lined up to were even realities, there was a young phy- attend the talk, fill- sician finishing his residency at Children’s ing 500-seat Masur Hospital in Bos- Auditorium and ton. Interested in overflow in Lipsett research, infectious Amphitheater and disease and can- FAES conference cer, he was abrupt- rooms. Anoth- ly summoned to er 4,000 people Bethesda in June watched the lecture 1973. NIH needed a live via webcast. pediatrician to treat Gates, who is co- “Teddy,” a boy living chair of the Bill in a sealed room on and Melinda Gates the 13th floor of the Foundation and Clinical Center. co-founder and Dr. Philip Pizzo is warmly Bill Gates gives Barmes The NIH Record is recyclable “This was one chairman of Micro- as office white paper. welcomed back to NIH. Lecture at NIH, Dec. 2. see pizzo, page 10 see gates, page 4 briefs

Meet OEODM Program Managers at Open House, Jan. 28 in Wilson Hall The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diver- sity Management will host an open house on Tuesday, Jan. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Wilson Hall, Bldg. 1. Meet special emphasis managers Golda Philip, Federal Women’s Dr. Rick Davis of NIOSH participates in Twitter- Program; and Tyrone Banks, Asian American Chat on noise-induced hearing loss. and Pacific Islander Program. Learn more about and share goals and visions of both programs. gists and others interested in the chat asked about Sign language interpreters will be provided. For NIHL safety tips and research on the topic. The most reasonable accommodation and details about popular retweet was about how loud sounds can the event, contact Philip at (301) 594-8401 or damage sensory cells in the inner ear and included [email protected]; or Banks at (301) 451- a diagram of the parts of the ear and where the 9692 or [email protected]. Visit online at damage happens. http://oeodm.od.nih.gov. Participants asked questions about NIHL, retweeted information and communicated with one another Hearing Loss Was Hot Topic of NIDCD’s First during the hour- TwitterChat long chat. One The NIH Record is published biweekly at NIDCD and its health education campaign—It’s eager participant Bethesda, MD by the Editorial Operations a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing—recently tweeted a question Branch, Office of Communications and Public hosted its first TwitterChat to raise awareness 20 minutes before Liaison, for the information of employees of the National Institutes of Health, Department about noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and to the start of the of Health and Human Services. The content is celebrate NIDCD’s 25th anniversary and Noisy chat, seeking “tips reprintable without permission. Pictures may Planet’s 5th anniversary. on how to talk be available upon request. Use of funds for to relatives with printing this periodical has been approved by Every day, we experience sound in our envi- hearing loss about the director of the Office of Management and ronment, coming from television and radio, getting hearing Budget through September 30, 2014. household appliances and traffic. Normally, aids over the these sounds are at safe levels that don’t dam- To receive alerts to our latest issue, send an holidays.” email to [email protected] with the words age our hearing. However, when we’re exposed “Subscribe NIHRECORD” in the message body. to harmful noise—sounds that are too loud or The team re- NIH Record Office Bldg. 31, Rm. 5B41 loud sounds that last a long time—sensitive sponded with a Phone (301) 496-2125 Fax (301) 402-1485 structures in our inner ear can be damaged, link to NIDCD’s NIHL expert Dr. Gordon Web address http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov causing NIHL. checklist—“Ten Hughes of NIDCD ponders Ways to Recognize response. Editor The TwitterChat helped participants learn more Hearing Loss”—to Richard McManus about NIHL and how to reduce the risk of NIHL [email protected] help initiate a conversation about hearing loss and for themselves, their families and community. what constitutes a hearing problem. Associate Editor The National Institute for Occupational Safety Carla Garnett and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Tweets using the #NIDCDchat hash tag reached an [email protected] Control and Prevention, co-hosted the event. estimated 1.2 million accounts and had an esti- Staff Writers mated 12 million impressions, helping spread the Jan Ehrman Subject matter experts for the chat—Dr. Gordon word about how NIHL happens and ways to prevent [email protected] Hughes, clinical trials director at NIDCD, and Dr. it. Davis noted the “corresponding increase in visits Rick Davis, co-team leader of NIOSH’s hearing Dana Steinberg to the NIOSH noise web page and a bump in Twitter [email protected] loss prevention team—answered questions followers for @NIOSHNoise.” from locations in Bethesda and Cincinnati. Belle Waring [email protected] NIDCD began the conversation with tweets The NIH Record reserves the right to make about how to participate in the chat using the corrections, changes or deletions in submitted #NIDCDchat hash tag. During the chat, a total copy in conformity with the policies of the of 180 total accounts used the tag. Participants paper and HHS. shared tips and resources and also answered NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health quiz questions that were scripted for the chat. NIDCD tweeted information about NIHL, such as the causes, how many people have it and how to prevent it. Noisy Planet partners, audiolo- 2 NIH RECORD JANUARY 17, 2014 2 JANUARY 17, 2014 JANUARY 17, 2014 VOL. LXVI, NO. 2

& Infectious Disease at Pennsylvania State University, where he started as an assistant professor in 1999. August received a B.S. in medical technology from California State University at Los Angeles and, after earning his Ph.D. in immunology from the Weill Cor- nell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, was a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefell- er University. He also served on the publications committee for the Journal of Immunology and on the committee for public affairs for the American Associa- tion of Immunologists. NIH has funded his program’s research on regulation of T cell activation and the development of lung immune responses since 2000. August has also made important contributions to the training of underrep- resented minorities in the sciences, working with and developing programs to enhance their participation. He developed the first NIH-funded Bridges to the Doctorate Program at Penn State, a collaboration between that school and Alcorn State University in Mississippi. There will be a reception and an opportunity to talk with the speaker in the NIH Library following the lecture. Fogarty, Partners Celebrate Decade of Global Neuroscience Research

Fogarty and its NIH partners will mark a decade of support for brain disorders research and training in developing countries at a 3-day symposium Feb. 11-13 Dr. Avery August of Cornell University at Natcher. The meeting will focus on the accomplishments of grantees funded August To Discuss Discoveries in T Cell by Fogarty’s Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifes- Immune Responses, Jan. 22 pan (BRAIN) program. The agenda features lessons in research capacity-building. Attendees will share insights on a wide range of topics, including the influence Dr. Avery August will discuss “Nature versus of environmental pollutants and toxins, infectious diseases, trauma and injury, Nurture: Tuning CD8+ T cell Responses” on genetics, nutrition and ways to address disorders and deficits with interventions Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10. and rehabilitation across the lifespan. Grantees will also discuss ways to address His presentation is part of the NIH Director’s gaps in the current research portfolio, as well as new directions and opportuni- Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS). ties for neuroscience in low- and middle-income countries. Keynote speakers August has made critical discoveries in the area include former Fogarty director and Boston University associate dean for global of T cell signaling. His work has focused on the health Dr. Gerald Keusch and Dr. Steven Hyman, former NIMH director who Tec family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases in T now directs the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of cell function in the development of allergies and MIT and Harvard and is president-elect of the Society for Neuroscience. asthma and in the development of specific T cell The BRAIN effort has supported more than 140 collaborative research proj- populations. He has also made important dis- ects in 30 countries, with the long-term goal of building sustainable capacity coveries on the function of eosinophils in regu- in research areas related to nervous system function and impairment through- lating the development of allergic asthma. out life. NIH funding partners for the BRAIN program are NIA, NICHD, NIAAA, For the WALS lecture, he poses the question: NIDA, NIEHS, NINDS, NIMH and ODS. Are T cell immune responses more dependent For more information on the symposium, visit http://bit.ly/BRAIN10. on the properties of the antigen-specific recep- tors generated in the thymus during their devel- Faupel-Badger Joins Staff at NIGMS opment or the amount of signal that the T cell Dr. Jessica Faupel-Badger recently joined NIGMS as receives when the T cell receptor interacts with a program director in the Division of Pharmacology, MHC complexes? He will address the implica- Physiology, and Biological Chemistry, where she directs tions of this work for the harvesting of T cells the Postdoctoral Research Associate (PRAT) Program for immune responses against invading patho- and administers Pathway to Independence Awards. gens, including cancer. Before coming to NIGMS, she served as a senior biomedical scientist and deputy director of the Cancer Since 2010, August has held the position of Prevention Fellowship Program at NCI. Prior to that, professor of immunology and chair of the she was a health science policy analyst at NIDDK. department of microbiology & immunology at Faupel-Badger earned a B.S. in biology from Gettysburg Cornell University College of Veterinary Medi- College, a Ph.D. in tumor biology from the Mayo Clinic cine. Prior to Cornell, he was a distinguished College of Medicine and an M.P.H. in epidemiology professor of immunology in the department and biostatistics from George Washington University. of veterinary & biomedical sciences and direc- She conducted postdoctoral research at NCI, where she tor of the Center for Molecular Immunology currently serves as an adjunct investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. 3 Gates also said most children worldwide receive GATES a pentavalent vaccine, a single shot containing 5 continued from page 1 vaccines: diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, hepati- tis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B. GAVI is soft Corp., recounted how he entered the global also expanding coverage of rotavirus and pneu- health field. While he and his wife Melinda were mococcus vaccines. During the remainder of this deliberating over what causes to support, they decade, Gates estimated these 2 vaccines will save came across an article on a diarrheal disease more than 2.3 million lives. caused by rotavirus that was killing hundreds “It’s the basic science work that you do that’s of thousands of children in developing coun- made this all possible,” said Gates. He paid hom- tries. At the time, the age to decades of NIH research that has enabled vaccine was only avail- such advances in vaccinology and other interven- able in wealthy nations. tions to promote global health. The story inspired them to champion the cause of Over the past half-century, biomedical innova- infant and child health in tion has decreased the mortality rate of children poorer countries. younger than 5, from 25 percent down to 5 per- cent. But with more than 6 million children still Since its launch in 2000, dying annually, there’s much more work to be the Bill and Melin- done, he said. “I believe with the right kind of da Gates Foundation research that all of you are involved in and the has contributed more right type of delivery activities,” said Gates, “we than $28 billion toward can get this number down below 3 million in the research and delivery of next 15 years.” vaccines, other glob- al health and develop- Together, NIH and the Gates Foundation fund ment priorities around more than half of all global health R&D. Gates the world and education expressed hope that others will recognize the initiatives in the United magnitude of this task and help support States. the cause. Gates (l) and NIH director Dr. Gates said, “Over time, the cost of making most “Investing in research has huge paybacks,” he Francis Collins engage in a dia- vaccines will get down to 20 to 25 cents per said, “paybacks in improving the human condi- logue on the Masur Auditorium child treated and yet it can give you lifelong tion, paybacks in reducing health costs as you get stage during the second half of protection.” new tools…Innovation is the solution to make the annual Barmes Lecture. sure medical costs don’t expand.” One of the Gates Foundation’s first endeavors photos: bill branson, ernie was investing in the Global Alliance for Vaccines There’s been a surprising but positive correlation branson and Immunization (GAVI), a public-private between vaccinations and population growth. partnership that distributes vaccines to chil- Gates noted as vaccines become more widely dren in the world’s poorest countries. By buy- available and child health is improving in devel- ing vaccines in bulk from manufacturers, GAVI oping countries, families are choosing to have makes them available at low cost, which so far fewer children. This trend has had a stabilizing has benefited more than 400 million disadvan- social and political impact in these countries, he taged children globally. said, from nutrition to education to employment. “Anything that helps vaccines—understanding Gates reiterated the need for more research on adjuvants, manufacture, making them at lower vaccines, better nutrition and fewer preterm cost—those are things that really have a huge births to help further decrease infant and child effect on global health,” Gates said. mortality. He spoke optimistically about the prospect for an HIV vaccine and of medical and The Gates Foundation is working with GAVI technological advances to come. During Q&A he and other partners on several key vaccination said, “The promise of the new tools we’ll get over initiatives. An urgent priority is the Global this next decade are pretty phenomenal.” Polio Eradication Initiative led by the World Health Organization, which aims to eradicate During his NIH visit, Gates toured a TB lab in polio globally by 2018. Gates noted distribution Bldg. 33, met with institute directors and spoke hurdles in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, to members of the press. Following the lecture, but technology such as satellite maps and GPS Gates, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins and NIAID tracking are helping aid workers find remote vil- director Dr. Anthony Fauci headed to the White lages in need. House for an event to mark World AIDS Day.

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mia with bone marrow stem cells from a healthy sibling. However, the treatment doesn’t work for everyone. “Within this population, we estimate that only 25 or 30 percent of patients have eligible siblings,” said Rodgers. He said it is possible that advances in stem cell will one day allow everyone with sickle cell anemia to benefit from the treatment. Next, Bennett spoke about type 2 diabetes in the Pima Indians of Arizona. He was chief of NIDDK’s intramural Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch, which began conducting cooperative research efforts with the Pimas in 1963, after scientists discovered the high prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabe- tes in this population. For over 30 years, Bennett administered glucose tolerance tests to almost every Pima Indian age 5 or older. Test results showed the Arizona Pima Indians had the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes of any group in the world—including NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers (l) and scientist the genetically similar Mexican Pima Indians—leading Bennett to conclude that emeritus Dr. Peter Bennett at Grand Rounds environmental factors play a role in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. He found NIDDK Researchers Chronicle Advances that low physical activity and obesity were risk factors for the disease. Later, he Against Sickle Cell Anemia, Diabetes found insulin resistance was another risk factor. All of these findings applied far By Eric Bock beyond the Pima population.

At a recent Clinical Center Grand Rounds, NIH He also found that children whose parents had diabetes were likelier to develop researchers reviewed progress made against two the disease earlier in life and that breastfeeding prevented the development of major causes of illness and death. NIDDK scien- diabetes by almost 60 percent. Bennett’s achievements in the field of diabetes tist emeritus Dr. Peter Bennett discussed his work research continue to be the foundation for the prevention, diagnosis and treat- over the past five decades identifying risk factors ment of type 2 diabetes. for type 2 diabetes in Arizona’s Pima Indian com- munity and NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers NIH Boosts Grant-Earning Capacity in Africa described advances against sickle cell anemia. NCI’s Center for Global Health, in collaboration with the South African Medical Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary blood disorder Research Council, recently held a Sub-Saharan Africa regional grant-writing and that primarily affects people of African, Middle peer review workshop to encourage Sub-Saharan investigators to address public Eastern and Indian descent. The condition affects health issues through hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells, research. The workshop explained Rodgers. Those with sickle cell anemia was held in Johannes- produce C-shaped red blood cells that clog small burg, South Africa. blood vessels, causing oxygen deprivation, pain and organ damage. The objectives were to increase the participa- Rodgers began the discussion. “Arguably, we know tion of Sub-Saharan more about sickle cell anemia than we do about African scientists from any other disease currently known to man,” low- to middle-resource he said. countries in research He and his colleagues study the effects of grantsmanship; develop hydroxyurea, the first FDA-approved therapy for strategies for sustain- sickle cell anemia, which Rodgers helped develop able research support in the 1990s. The drug activates the production of and collaborations; Biomedical researchers from Sub-Saharan African countries fetal hemoglobin, which effectively interferes with and utilize competi- attend public health workshop. the aggregation of sickle hemoglobin inside red tive research as a tool to blood cells. The resulting inhibition of the “sick- address global health issues. ling” process alleviates painful episodes associat- There were 63 participants from 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. They were ed with sickle cell anemia. “Although hydroxyurea selected through a competitive process that included evaluation of more than lessens many complications, it really isn’t a cure 600 applications. During the 3-day workshop, faculty presented on topics such for sickle cell disease,” he said. as identifying funding opportunities, developing and presenting research ideas, Results from a recent clinical trial at NIH suggest writing a grant application and how the grant peer review process works. that a cure for sickle cell anemia may be possible. The inception of the workshop was the result of development and implementa- In nine of 10 adults who had been severely affect- tion of a similar workshop in Latin America (Bogota, Colombia) in June 2012 ed by sickle cell anemia, a stem cell transplant where scientists from 12 countries were represented. As a result, grants were reversed the disease. A cure would require replac- submitted and awards are yet to be determined by NIH, Wellcome Trust, USAID ing bone marrow of patients with sickle cell ane- and WHO. 5 Then and now: Taylor looks at a photo of herself and Rosenberg taken in 1984 (and reproduced at right). She said, “I will be forever grateful to not only Dr. Rosenberg but all the hard- working folks at NCI.” present-day photos: ernie branson

TAYLOR continued from page 1

worldwide headlines in December when research- documented in a New England Journal of Medi- ers in Philadelphia announced stunning regres- cine paper, on 25 patients, that landed Rosenberg sions in cases of leukemia. Science magazine labeled on the cover of Newsweek in 1985. “That paper is its 2013 “Breakthrough of one of the most highly cited papers in the onco- the Year.” logic literature,” Rosenberg said. Taylor returned to NIH for the first time in about a But media favor, then and now, was not easily decade on Dec. 12 to be filmed with Rosenberg by won. producers of an upcoming PBS documentary on the Taylor, a native of Wichita Falls, Tex., was a history of cancer. Overseen by Ken Burns, the proj- 29-year-old naval officer posted to the Defense ect is due to air in spring 2015 as a 6-hour series Intelligence College when she noticed a suspi- based loosely on Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book The cious mole on her back. Emperor of All Maladies. “I had the doc check it,” she recalls. “You know Rosenberg, who came to NIH in 1974 fresh out of a you’re in trouble when you start seeing a lot of residency in surgery to become chief of the Surgery [doctors] fast.” Branch, saw a toughness in Taylor, a Navy officer, that made him think that much of the tinkering The mole was surgically removed and Taylor was he had done with IL-2 dose and frequency, among advised that she had a 50-50 chance of recurrence. other modifications, in previous patients, could be “I made it through school and became flag secre- ramped up in her. tary to an admiral on Guam,” she recalls. “I was “We gave her a very vigorous treatment,” he recalls. there for 3 months when the melanoma came “More intensive doses, more frequently. And it back—three [tumors] on my arm.” resulted in a complete disappearance of her cancer, A surgeon biopsied the lumps, confirmed a diag- which has persisted for 28 years.” nosis of melanoma and arrangements were Taylor’s remission was a media sensation and was quickly made to fly Taylor back to the states.

NCI’s Surgery Branch 7 1985 New England Jour- 7 1990 Rosenberg’s team is 7 2010 Rosenberg’s team Pioneers Fourth Anti-Cancer nal of Medicine report on Linda first to introduce foreign genes reports, in the journal Blood, Modality Taylor; IL-2 was the first effec- into humans. on the first genetic engineering tive reproducible immunother- of lymphocytes—adoptive cell 7 2003 Rosenberg’s team In July 2014, NCI Surgery apy for the treatment of cancer transfer—to treat lymphomas reports, in Proceedings of the Branch chief Dr. Steven Rosen- (approved by the FDA for meta- using chimeric antigen recep- National Academy of Sciences, the berg will celebrate his 40th static renal cancer in 1992 and tors (CAR). first use of a checkpoint inhibi- year in that position. When he melanoma in 1998). began his career, the anti-cancer tor, anti-CTLA4, to mediate can- 7 2013 Researchers in Phila- armamentarium included three 7 1988 NEJM article on TIL cer regression in patients. delphia report complete remis- (tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte) sions of leukemia using CAR weapons—surgery, radiation 7 2006 Rosenberg’s team pub- therapy for cancer reported by therapy pioneered in NCI’s Sur- and . His branch lishes in Science the first report Rosenberg’s team; it now induc- gery Branch. Science magazine has added a fourth—immuno- using genetically engineered es complete durable regression lauds cancer immunotherapy as therapy. Key milestones in that cells to treat any cancer (in this of metastatic melanoma in up to “Breakthrough of the Year.” field include: case, melanoma). 40 percent of patients. 6 NIH RECORD JANUARY 17, 2014 JANUARY 17, 2014 VOL. LXVI, NO. 2

She had wanted to go manager. I remember them asking me, ‘Do you have any fears or concerns?’ By to an Air Force hospital that point, I thought it was the most ludicrous thing I’d ever heard. ‘No! I don’t in Biloxi, near her fam- have any at all!’ ily in Pensacola, Fla., “I finally saw Dr. Rosenberg. He was very soft-spoken, very friendly, going but an admiral over- through this list of everything that could go wrong—‘The kitchen sink’s gonna rode her decision and fall on you’—but it didn’t matter to me. He admitted that they had had no suc- sent her to Bethesda’s cess to date. naval hospital. “What really resonated with me was when he said, ‘I don’t know of any other “Just by luck, one of option you have.’ I thought, well, okay…” the NIH docs was over Taylor was on campus to be doing rounds at Navy,” She was in a treatment room in old Bldg. 10 when Rosenberg told her that they interviewed by PBS for an Taylor remembers. She upcoming series on cancer. were going to dramatically escalate the doses of IL-2. She looked up at a mural enrolled in an NCI trial on the ceiling, which reminded her of the décor in a scene from the Charlton being conducted at a small hospital—no longer in Heston film Soylent Green. “It looked like this room where they gave people operation—at NCI-Frederick. Researchers tried giv- lethal injections. I thought, ‘My God, I think I’ve picked the wrong program!’ But ing interferon and then injecting a monoclonal anti- I think I picked the right program after all.” body directly into melanoma lesions. Rosenberg was so concerned about potential side effects of therapy that Taylor “My quality of life was out the window,” said Taylor. was assigned a 2-person team: a nurse and a clinical fellow. “I was the big rat,” “I could barely function.” Billeted at a nearby hotel laughs Taylor. during that trial, she says, “To this day, I’m not To keep her busy and distracted, they made her choose a crafts project. “I picked keen on staying at Sheratons.” a rug to hook,” said Taylor. “That’s so not like me.” Within a month it was clear that treatment was Treatment was, as predicted, tough. “I just sort of took each day at a time,” said failing. “The doctors sat me down for a heart-to- Taylor. “I had to regroup. For the apheresis [harvesting of blood cells that would heart and said, basically, ‘We don’t have anything be treated then returned to her body] they had these gigantic needles. I would for you.’ They said it was a good time to make what lay there for 3 hours. You kind of get numb after a while.” we now call a bucket list.” “We gave her more IL-2 than we had given any other patient,” Rosenberg said. Taylor was advised that she had 3 months to live, “Linda was tough. Not a lot of people could have withstood the treatment.” a figure that was later revised to 17 months when tests revealed no major organ involvement. “I was Taylor developed fever, chills, the shakes. “I had unbelievable fluid retention. I thrilled to get any additional time I could,” she felt, like, squishy when I walked. Then I wasn’t walking at all. But I don’t remem- explained. “It’s just that the doctor said it to me ber ever wanting to quit. Obviously, it was incredibly hard for me.” with such enthusiasm, but all I could comprehend was that life as I knew it was over.” Her official Navy She remembers becoming enraged at the noises made by a fellow patient’s toy personnel file was marked “Death Imminent.” monkey. “Normally I don’t agitate easily,” she said. “I had a tremendous amount of trouble breathing.” One of the Frederick researchers knew of a new tri- al being conducted by Rosenberg in Bethesda. But “That was the cytokine storm,” explained Rosenberg; IL-2 therapy induces a Taylor, with lumps all over her body, had resigned massive innate immune response that can cause, as it did in Taylor, pulmonary herself to the grim prognosis. edema. Researchers have since learned to tamp down the reaction. “We learned from Linda,” he said. “It took some coaxing from my family” to give Rosenberg’s protocol a try, she recalls. “I didn’t Taylor was intubated for one night for the edema, which soon resolved. In feel that I was giving up. I just felt like I was fac- December 1984, she went home to Pensacola in stable condition, but full of ing reality.” apprehension about what was happening inside her body. Taylor smiles when she remembers first meeting A month later she returned to Bethesda. There were no new lumps, but the old Rosenberg. “He was like Mister Rogers: ‘Come on ones—which covered her body—had not disappeared. A biopsy of one indicated up to the neighborhood—check it out.’” that the cells inside were dead. “But nothing else changed, there was no shrink- age,” Taylor said. Her mission-oriented military toughness began to emerge. “I decided to go into it full-fledge…I’m not On her second visit to NIH a month after that, “I could tell that they were small- one of those people with high expectations. I came er,” she said. Adds Rosenberg, “By the third or fourth month, they were all gone.” with a certain peace of mind. My mom said, ‘Why Taylor then asked Rosenberg “the monumental question: ‘What does that mean not try this?’ so I came determined to give it my for me?’ He just looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know, we’ll just have to see.’” best shot.” Taylor’s eyes fill as she recalls, “I came with peace. But I just thought ‘I don’t Taylor was surprised at how big-league NIH was know where I am.’ It was always very scary to come back.” compared to the outpost in Frederick. “It was far more formal and laborious than the little, laid-back On the off-chance she might live, Taylor started an M.B.A. The Navy, which had Frederick crowd. I had all these tests, and a case continued on page 8 7 continued from page 7 Longtime Printing Specialist Pair Retires put her on temporary disability retirement, was bureaucratically unequipped to deal with a med- After 41 years of ical miracle; it had no game plan for undoing government service “Death Imminent.” in printing—20 at NIH—David Pair It took the intervention of a lawyer, an admi- begins part two of ral, a congressman and the Secretary of the his life: retirement. Navy to reinstate her to active duty, a labor that somewhat embarrasses Taylor because “I used He started his gov- to handle congressional correspondence in the ernment service in Navy, and I hated it when people did that.” But October 1972 in regaining her professional identity, and feeling the print shop at of self-worth, was crucial to her. Being reinstat- the National Aero- ed, she said, “saved my life.” nautics and Space Administration in After being cancer-free for more than 3 years, Washington, D.C., Taylor went on to become executive officer at as a laborer and Naval Station Pearl Harbor, then XO at Subic moved to print- Bay (Philippines), then postings in Japan and ing procurement, where his career in printing throughout the Far East. She rose to the rank began. Printing and color were soaring at the of captain, which, ironically, placed her in a tie time and Pair wanted to move up in the indus- Rosenberg and Taylor playfully with Rosenberg, who topped out as a captain in try. While working full time he went back to josh one another about who had the Public Health Service. school to learn about the field and it paid off. the higher rank; both topped out Taylor retired in 2001 after 24 years in the In 1982, he was promoted to a color specialist as captains in their respective Navy. Though she never became a flag officer, position at NASA headquarters. services. she held two command positions: “I wanted In 1992, Pair saw an opportunity to work in command so bad—I wanted it more than any- the NIH Printing and Reproduction Branch. thing else. To have two was over the top. After a few years, he was given the task of cre- “[But] my mom wanted me to come home—she ating a program to procure printing and save said, ‘Enough’s enough.’” money for the institutes without going through the Government Printing Office. The program During her Navy years, Taylor earned three proved to be valuable at NIH: Print products masters degrees and made two trips to Europe. were delivered in a shorter time with a larger She now runs a property management company savings per year. with her brother in Florida. In 2000, Pair became lead printing specialist for Rosenberg says the therapy that Taylor with- NIH. Over the years, he has overseen printing stood over the course of a month at NCI in of the NIH Record, NIH News In Health, Clinical 1984 now takes only 4-6 days of hospitaliza- Center News and NIH Catalyst. He has worked tion, with significantly fewer side effects. “It’s with most of the institutes to print various much easier now…Thousands of people have health brochures for patients and the public. now been saved by this therapy,” he said. “Linda Pair feels good about the printing services he doesn’t realize how important she is to the his- helped create and make available to NIH in the tory of cancer treatment.” past 20 years. Though she admits “the fear factor is still real A native of Washington, D.C., he graduated high,” Taylor has had no symptoms over the from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1972. He succeeding years. lives in Gaithersburg and owns his family home “The T cells we modified are still working in in D.C. He says retirement will give him more your body,” Rosenberg tells her. time for his love of fishing with his long-time buddies. He plans to begin some new projects at “Keep working!” laughs Taylor. his D.C. home. “You won this battle,” says Rosenberg. “I love sports,” he said. “I coached a baseball Answers Taylor, “It was a tough one.” team during my career at NASA. I support the Nats, go Caps and hail to the Redskins—and I do Cancer may be the emperor of all maladies, but enjoy the big-screen TV to watch a good game.” every once in a while a captain beats an emperor. To learn more about the upcoming PBS series on cancer, visit www.emperorofallmaladies.org/. 8 NIH RECORD JANUARY 17, 2014 JANUARY 17, 2014 VOL. LXVI, NO. 2

tist most noted for his research in the field of membrane cation transport and neuronal excitability in the nervous system. According to his colleagues, he was known as a scientist’s scientist, had an insatiable curiosity about the natural world and was thoroughly committed to a life of science. He was always gener- ous with his time and advice to young people and was a valuable mentor to many milestones young scientists at NIH. Schneeweis Named NEI Deputy “Wayne was an extraordinary investigator and a resource for all NINDS intramu- Scientific Director ral investigators,” said NINDS director Dr. Story Landis. “He liked nothing better than to talk about science and help solve difficult problems.” Dr. David Schneeweis will help direct the Albers earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska in National Eye Institute 1950 and his doctorate from Washington University School of Medicine in 1954. intramural research pro- His mentor was the renowned biochemist Dr. Oliver Lowry. After receiving his gram, which includes 26 Ph.D., Albers immediately accepted a full-time position at NIH in the Laborato- principal investigators ry of Neuroanatomical Sciences, NINCDS (now NINDS). In 1963, together with and tenure track inves- two other distinguished NINDS scientists, Dr. Roscoe Brady and Dr. Donald tigators and about 275 Tower, Albers founded the Laboratory of Neurochemistry, where he went on to scientific support staff. do ground-breaking research throughout his career. In addition to managing Along with close colleague Dr. Robert L. Post at the University of Pennsylva- day-to-day operations, nia, Albers performed novel experiments that led to the “Albers-Post Model,” an he will oversee the NEI explanation of the mechanism of action of the cation transport enzyme, known intramural training as the sodium-potassium-activated ATPase. He published extensively about this program, consisting of work, including a 1967 classic paper describing the model in the Annual Review about 100 trainees. of Biochemistry—a paper that is still relevant today. Schneeweis is a vision scientist with a back- Later, he focused on kinetics and structure-function relationships in the sodi- ground studying cell signaling in primate retina. um-potassium-ATPase enzyme. Most recently his work centered on an enzyme He earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering called cdk5. This work was done in collaboration with NINDS’s Dr. Harish Pant from the University of Michigan and trained as and NIST visiting scientist Dr. Antonio Cardone. a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco, in the laboratory of Julie After 57 years of meritorious service at NIH, Albers retired as scientist emeritus Schnapf. He brings to NEI a range of research, in 2011. training and administrative experience from Albers was also an outstanding citizen in the scientific community. He was positions held at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye a founding member of the American Society for Neurochemistry and served Research Institute in San Francisco, the Uni- on its council and several of its committees. He was a professor of biochemis- versity of Illinois at Chicago and most recently try at George Washington University and on the faculty of the Foundation for Northwestern University, where he adminis- Advanced Education in the Sciences. tered a large, interdepartmental neuroscience Ph.D. program. Albers served as associate editor of the Journal of Neurochemistry and Journal of Experimental Neurology and on the editorial boards of several other publications “With his scientific background, extensive expe- including Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Metabolic Brain Disease. rience in science administration and a passion for mentoring, we look forward to working with He was a founding co-editor of the textbook Basic Neurochemistry: Molecular, Cellu- Dr. Schneeweis with great enthusiasm,” said lar and Medical Aspects, first published in 1972. He continued to serve as co-editor NEI scientific director Dr. Sheldon Miller. for eight more editions; the latest was published in 2012. He twice served as act- ing chief of the Laboratory of Neurochemistry, from 1973-1976 and 1985-1986. NINDS Mourns Scientist Emeritus Albers Albers is survived by his former wife, Frances; their children, Gail Morrell, Belin- da Caron and Patricia Steinhoff; 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. A By Shannon E. Garnett son, the late Jonathan Albers, preceded him in death. Dr. R. Wayne Albers, Donations toward a fund for an Albers memorial lecture or research prize may 85, scientist emeri- be sent to the American Society for Neurochemistry, 9037 Ron Den Ln., Winder- tus and retired chief of mere, FL 34786. Email [email protected]. the section on enzyme chemistry in the NINDS Laboratory of Neurochemistry, died Sept. 28. Albers was a world-rec- ognized neuroscien- 9 PIZZO continued from page 1

of those galvanizing changes in life that really humor; and his “ability to tell a story.” Above (from l): altered my career and who I think I am as an indi- A Pizzo successor as Pediatric Pizzo’s own story, he pointed out, may appear vidual,” said the former resident, Dr. Phil Pizzo, Oncology Branch chief, Dr. in retrospect to have unfolded neatly and tidily now also former dean of Stanford medical school Crystal Mackall, introduces him “in a linear fashion,” but actually consisted of and former chief come home of NCI’s Pediatric at the Great Teachers lecture. myriad, unpredictable “intertwining threads that Oncology Branch. came together.” He emphasized several of those Pizzo shares a laugh with former Teddy, Pizzo explained, had a severely compro- threads in particular: colleagues Dr. Fred Gill (l) and mised immune system. He’d been diagnosed with Basic science. “I want to underscore the incred- Dr. Harvey Klein. aplastic anemia at age 10. For his health, he was ible importance of basic science research and how isolated from family, friends and virtually all that contributes to everything that improves the human contact. Teddy survived 8 more years— Below: lives we value so much.” Well wishers (from l) CC senior vigorously protected from potential pathogens— investigator Dr. Harvey Alter, in a specially ventilated, see-through case about Unwitting instructors. “Surprisingly, the peo- NHLBI’s Dr. Neal Young and the size of a large bathroom. ple I felt I learned the most from were not the NHLBI deputy director Dr. esteemed professors or the extraordinary faculty. “He grew up and I grew with him,” Pizzo recalled. Susan Shurin greet the former They were largely the patients—those individuals “He was an exemplar of resilience, at the most sig- NIH’er who helped transform who I cared for, did my personal research on— the prognosis for childhood nificant and fundamental level. We learned a lot and my immediate colleagues.” cancers. from Teddy.” Medical students formally taught to pay atten- Forty years after his arrival in Bethesda, the tion. “The listening part has proven to be extraor- photos: bill branson investigator returned to NIH recently, with an dinarily valuable not just in terms of clinical overview of lessons learned and an abundance of activity but also in my role as administrator in perspective. Part of the Contemporary Clinical different sectors.” Medicine: Great Teachers lecture series, his talk offered a unique glimpse “at the subtext behind The value of teamwork. “We take it for grant- the headlines” of a career chock full of headlines. ed now, but bridging together investigators with Pizzo attributed much of his success to his time research nurses, biostatisticians, clinical phar- spent at NIH. macologists was at the time unique to NIH” and bolstered not only the research itself, but also the “There has not been an environment in my life well-being of the patient. and career more formative and more impor- tant than this institution,” he said. “It really is an Psychosocial components of clinical care. “The incredible place.” Pediatric Oncology Branch then and now has really connected the dots between humanism and One of Pizzo’s successors as POB chief, Dr. Crystal patient care,” said Pizzo, who had attended POB Mackall, introduced him as someone who “put the rounds that morning. “The branch still brings Pediatric Oncology Branch on the map for teach- together those essential ingredients that allow ing us how to manage infections in immunocom- children to go through the rigors of clinical trials promised hosts and the pioneering work he did in ways that are meaningful and significant.” for children with HIV infection.” Perseverance. “Tenacity pays off in unexpect- Four qualities, she suggested, make Pizzo “a ed ways,” he stressed, describing early efforts to beloved and timeless leader, a role model for all get the Children’s Inn built and to develop Camp of us.” She noted his “driven, focused and deter- Fantastic, with unforeseen help from congressio- mined” work ethic; an “incredible power to devel- nal spouses, parents of patients and private sec- op a vision and a boldness—he taught ‘If you tor contributors. aren’t going to envision grand success, then it’s never going to happen’”; a remarkable sense of Thick skin. Pizzo noted the strong protests he 10 NIH RECORD JANUARY 17, 2014 JANUARY 17, 2014 VOL. LXVI, NO. 2

NIBIB Partners with India on Blood Pressure Initiative

Hypertension is responsible for approximately half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease and is the second leading cause of kidney failure. Yet despite being a treatable condition, hypertension goes untreated in one in three adults world- Above, Pizzo discusses his experiences before, during wide. One explanation is that effective screening, diagnosis and management of and after his career at NIH. Below, he gathers with blood pressure can be difficult to achieve using current technologies. longtime friends (from l) NIA director Dr. Richard Hodes, CC director Dr. John Gallin and Gill, chief of To address this issue, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioen- the CC’s internal medicine consultation service. gineering will commit $2 million to fund research leading to the development of new technologies for measuring blood pressure that are unobtrusive or pas- endured—some from staffers who threatened sive and that can automatically provide frequent feedback to both patients and to quit, and did—when early in the AIDS epi- health care workers. The goal is to create less expensive, less intrusive and faster demic he decided that the POB would begin to technologies for measuring blood pressure than are currently available and that treat kids with the still-mysterious and fear- can be operated by untrained individuals in homes or regional care settings. inducing disease. Witnessing in person the marked neurological deterioration suffered by NIBIB is partnering with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in several of the children convinced him. “Patients India to leverage resources of the two countries. NIBIB will fund up to 3 proj- can make a difference in the way we think about ects for a maximum of 5 years. new ventures,” he said. Under Pizzo’s watch, the Clinical Center was the first hospital to admin- NIBIB is specifically interested in funding technology that can be used to ister continuous AZT—“the beginning of hope,” measure the blood pressure of large numbers of individuals—so-called high- he calls it—a landmark treatment achievement throughput blood pressure systems. This type of system would measure blood in the epidemic. pressure while an individual performs a routine daily activity such as walking through a doorway, checking out at the grocery store, using a key fob, holding After 23 years, Pizzo left NIH in 1996 to head a cell phone or interacting with an office item, as well as performing a task in a pediatrics at Harvard. In 2000, he was lured home environment. west to lead Stanford Medicine. After a dozen years there, Pizzo stepped down as dean in 2012 In addition, NIBIB envisions that the future of blood pressure management for a new phase. Now a full-time professor, he will involve automatic, wireless transmission of blood pressure measurements lends his voice and experience to various scien- to a patient’s electronic health record. Such a system would allow physicians to tific advisory boards, advocates for biomedical track changes in an individual’s blood pressure over time and help to determine research and mentors transitioning scientists. whether a particular blood pressure medication or lifestyle intervention is work- He’s also developing an exciting university-based ing. Thus, any new technology for blood pressure measurement must be able to program for life and career transition. integrate with communications devices such as cell phones and the Internet. He speaks out frankly on vital issues. “The NIH NIBIB director Dr. Roderic Pettigrew points out that our current technique for in the intramural program—and elsewhere— measuring blood pressure—the blood pressure cuff—is more than 100 years needs more women leaders,” he said, vocalizing old and is insufficient for addressing hypertension on a global scale. anew a topic he initiated before leaving Stan- “A reading taken with a blood pressure cuff at a doctor’s office—while rela- ford: more flexible career paths for women phy- tively accurate—only gives a snapshot of a patient’s blood pressure status. sician-scientists. Because blood pressure varies considerably throughout the day and from one Addressing stem cell research, Pizzo said it’s day to the next, doctors are missing the full picture,” said Pettigrew. “To effec- important that “we not let political agendas tively manage hypertension, doctors need to be able to track blood pressure impact promising research that can truly make and its response to medications over time. From a practical standpoint, this is a difference.” going to require the development of technologies that can unobtrusively and more frequently take blood pressure measurements and send them directly to Finally, he closed with an encouragement to a patient’s record. Simply put, to reduce rates of hypertension worldwide, we current NIH’ers, “I say, as someone who was need a passive technology for measuring blood pressure.” part of this institution from the early seventies to the mid-nineties and now see it in full glory As part of an ongoing commitment to encourage collaborative research and of the early 21st century, that you have every technology development between scientists and engineers in the U.S. and India, reason to be proud of what you do every day.” the Indian government has committed to support similar research for new blood pressure technologies by Indian investigators. U.S. applicants are encour- aged, but not required, to identify Indian partners to work with on their projects when submitting their applications; successful applicants may be asked to share their abstract and specific aims with the Indian funding agency so that they may fund Indian investigators who best match their U.S. counterparts. For details, contact Dr. Vinay Pai, [email protected], (301) 451-4781.

11 Congressional Representatives Meet With NIDDK Staff, Grantees

At the request of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, more than 20 members of bipartisan Plotz Receives Rheumatology Medal congressional staffs came to NIH recently to Above: More than 20 members of bipartisan congressional staffs Dr. Paul H. Plotz (c), scientist emeritus at NIAMS, learn about type 1 diabetes research and the role of NIH in improving public health. (shown here with NIDDK staff, was awarded the 2013 Presidential Gold Medal researchers and grantees) came to from the American College of Rheumatology. The All heard about results, current studies NIH recently to learn about NIH- medal is the highest award the ACR can bestow and supported type 1 diabetes research, recognizes “outstanding achievements in rheumatol- and future opportunities in type 1 diabetes research, including those made possible by the as well as about the benefits of ogy over an entire career.” Plotz, whose career at investment in NIH. NIH spanned nearly 40 years, served as chief of the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type NIAMS Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch, scientific 1 Diabetes Research—a $150 million annual director and acting deputy director. He was also a appropriation that is spearheaded by NIDDK Below: Congressional staffers senior advisor to NIH deputy director for intramural in collaboration with other NIH components tour the lab of NIDDK intramural research Dr. Michael Gottesman. Plotz received the and the Centers for Disease Control and investigator Dr. Sushil Rane honor at the 2013 ACR annual meeting in San Diego Prevention. during a recent visit to learn about from ACR immediate past president Dr. Audrey B. advances and emerging opportuni- Uknis (l) and ACR president Dr. Joseph Flood. NIH director Dr. Francis Collins spoke to the ties in NIH-supported type 1 photo: acr staffers about the benefits of investment in diabetes research. NIH, the power and promise of research and photos: jen rymaruk the effect of shrinking fund- ing. “We’re on a roll,” he said, “but unfortunately we can’t be on a roll at the pace that science would allow.” Following Collins, NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers provided an overview of dia- betes and its complications and introduced speakers who presented on type 1 diabetes research being conducted in the extramural research com- munity and in the NIDDK Intramural Research Pro- gram. They spoke about major advances made Kidney Foundation Honors Rodgers and emerging opportunities in the fields of NIDDK director Dr. Griffin Rodgers (r) accepts the artificial pancreas technologies and diabet- National Kidney Foundation’s Outstanding Achieve- ic eye and kidney diseases, among other top- ment Award from WJLA-TV news anchor Jummy ics. The staffers also toured two NIDDK labs Olabanji at a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C. and heard a patient speak about the positive The award recognizes Rodgers’ commitment to bet- impact that type 1 research advances have tering the lives of patients through research and by made on her life. increasing awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease through the National Kidney Disease There have been “a tremendous number of dis- Education Program and his “Healthy Moments” coveries and innovations that have resulted radio show. from these special funds,” Rodgers said.—Amy F. Reiter 12 NIH RECORD JANUARY 17, 2014